Axle attachment for automobiles.



J. HANSEN.

AXLE ATTACHMENT FOR AUTO APPLICATION FILED 1:50.10. 1915. RENEWED NOV.2, 1916.

MOBILES.

Patented May 29, 1917.

ATTORNEYJ.

TOI-IAIN HANSEN", 0F TONOPAI-I, NEVADA.

AXLE ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 29, 1917.

Application filed December 10, 1915, Serial No. 66,115. Renewed November2, 1916. Serial No. 129,231.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, JoHAN HANSEN, residing at Tonopah, in the county ofNye and State of Nevada, have invented a new and Improved AxleAttachment for Automobiles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in emergency repair devices and theinvention primarily has for its object to provide a device for efiectinga repair, especially of the front axle of a motor vehicle when the axlebreaks in back of the knuckle bracket. Frequently, the front axle of anautomobile will break ofi more or less close to one of the Wheels and inorder to convey the vehicle from the place of accident to a repair shop,the axle must be jacked up and an emergency truck placed under the same.This is inconvenient, takes considerable time and an emergency truck isnot always available. Hence it is an object of my invention to providean attachment that can be quickly secured to the front axle and to whichthe wheel may be applied and the vehicle run under its own power, thedevice being of a nature that can be carried conveniently in the toolbox or elsewhere so as to always be at hand when occasion for its usearises.

In its general nature, the invention comprises an L body having aspindle bracket in which a wheel spindle is mounted in the usual way,and provided with the usual arm to which the connecting rod of thesteering gear may be fastened, the attachment being designed to besecured to either end of the axle, right or left, as required; quickacting clamp devices are also provided for clamping the attachment tothe front axle.

In its more subordinate nature, the invention includes those novelfeatures of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, allfirst fully described, then specifically pointed out in the appendedclaims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which: i

Figure l is a perspective view of a portion of a broken axle with theinvention applied.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is an inverted plan View of the invention applied to an axle end,one of the clamps being removed to show the clamp slots.

Fig. 4: is a cross section on the line H of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail plan View of one of the clamp spacer plates.

In the drawing, 1 represents the front axle which is usually of the Ibeam type and is sometimes provided with a portion 2 for the receptionof the spring shackle bracket bolt (on Ford cars and the like having thetransverse front spring suspension).

In order to supply a temporary spindle arrangement for the broken axlel, I have provided a body which consists of the bottom plate 3 and theside plate 4; preferably inte grally formed as an L beam, the side plate1 being provided with the spindle bracket 5 having bearings 6 for thespindle pivot bolt 8 and between which bearings 6 the spindle bearingsleeve 7 is located. 9 is the wheel spindle on which the wheel ismounted in the usual way (not shown). The spindle bearing sleeve 7 hasan car 10 to which the arm 11 is secured as at 14, the arm 11 having aseries of apertures 13 to which the connecting rod (not shown) of thesteering gear is adapted to be coupled, and 12 indicates a slot in whichthe speedometer post may be secured.

The base 3 is provided with slots 15 entering from one side and shortslots 16 at the other side, the slots 16 extending up in the side 1, asindicated best in Figs. 2 and 4 to permit introduction of the fingers 23of the clamp member 22. It will be noticed that the short slots 16extend back the thickness of the metal of the side 4.- so as to be flushwith the side edge of the base of the axle 1.

17 is a slot provided in the base 1 to register with the bore of theenlargement 2 so that the spring shackle bracket bolt may be passedthrough the same.

18 is a spacer plate or shim which has a short slot 19 and a long slot20, so as to register with the slots 15 and 16 respectively, the plate18 being designed for insertion between thebase portions 21 of the clampmembers 22 and the web of the axle when such web is of a thin nature orthe plate 18 may be omitted when the web is thicker.

The clamp members 21-22 are essentially of the same construction, whichincludes fingers 23 for gripping the axle and base portions 2 1 fromwhich cars 25 depend, the ears 25 being apertured to permit passage ofthe bolt 27. One of the clamp members 22 has a shoulder 26 to engage thehead 28 of the bolt, and hold it from turning while the nut 29 issecured home to insure the clamping pressure required.

In practice, it the left hand end of the axle breaks off the device maybe attached as shown in' Fig. 1, with the plate l lying in back of theaxle, that would bring the spindle 9 to the rear of the axial alinementand hence the connecting rod of the steering gear would be connected in.one of the holes 13 nearest to the axle, while, on the other hand, ifthe right hand end of the axle is broken, the plate at would lie againstthe front of the axle and the arm 11 would be secured to project in adirection opposite to that shown in Fig. 3, and the connecting rod ofthe steering mechanism would be secured to one of the outermostapertures 13, as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

From the foregoing taken in connection with the accompanying drawing,the complete construction, operation and advantages of my inventionwill. be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

I claim 1. A device of the class described comprising an L body formedof a base and a side web section, said base having tljtllS- verse slots,axle grippers movable in said slots and projecting below "the base, ascrew device for drawing said grippers together to clamp the base to theaxle, a spindle bracket projecting from the web and having bearings, aspindle having a sleeve mounted between said bearings, a spindle boltpassing through said bearings and sleeve and an arm connected with saidsleeve for attachment to the steering gear.

2. A device of the class described comprising an L body formed of a baseand a side web section, said base having trans verse slots, axlegrippers movable in said slots and projecting below the base, a screwdevice for drawing said grippers together to clamp the base to the axle,a spindle bracket projecting from the web and having bearings, a spindlehaving a sleeve mounted between said bearings, a spindle bolt passingthrough said bearings and sleeve, an arm connected with said sleeve forattachment to the steering gear, said base having an elongated slotextending in the length of the base.

3. A device of the class described comprising an L body formed of a baseand a side web section, said base having trans verse slots, axlegrippers movable in said slots and projecting below the base, a screwdevice for drawing said grippers together to clamp the base to the axle,a spindle bracket projecting from the web and having bearings, a spindlehaving a sleeve mounted between said bearings, a spindle bolt passingthrough said bearings and sleeve, an arm connected with said sleeve forattachment to the steering gear, and a spacer plate inserted betweensaid base and said clamp members, said spacer plate having slotscorresponding to the base slot.

l. A device of the class described comprising an L body formed of a baseand a side web section, said base having transverse slots, axle grippersmovable in said slots and projecting below the base, a screw device fordrawing said grippers together to clamp the base to the axle, a spindlebracket projecting from the web and having bearings, a spindle having asleeve mounted between said bearings, a spindle bolt passing throughsaid bearings and sleeve, an arm connected with said sleeve forattachment to the steering gear, said base having an elongated slotextending in the length of the base, and a spacer plate inserted betweensaid base and said clamp members, said spacer plate having slotscorresponding to the base slot.

5. In a device of the character described, a base plate and a side plateextending upwardly from the same, a spindle bracket projecting from saidside plate at one end thereof, a spindle mounted in said bracket, saidbase plate having transverse slots, said side plate having slotsregistering with those of the base plate, and clamp members for securingsaid base plate to the axle, said clamp members comprising flat portionsopposing the base plate, fingers extending up from said base portion andadapted to extend over the base flange of the axle, ears dependent fromsaid base portions of said clamp members and apertured, a clamp boltpassed through said apertured ears, a nut on said bolt, one of saidclamp members having a shoulder to engage the bolt head and hold it fromturn- JOHAN HANSEN.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents- Washington, D. 0.

